The 99th Floor
by the world that never was
Summary: CloTi, AU: A single spark of passion can change a person forever, a moment in a lifetime is all it takes to break someone. Just how deep do you believe?


Published: April 4th, 2007

**Pairing:** Cloud/Tifa  
**Rating:** 'M' for grown up situations and language.  
**Disclaimer:** If I did own FFVII, Cloud and Tifa would've had a million babies together.  
**In-Depth Summary: **_A single spark of passion can change a person forever, a moment in a lifetime is all it takes to break some. Just how deep do you believe? _A dark action/adventure/drama/angst/romance story that follows AVALANCHE's tale during DoC. Alternate Universe.

**Note:** God, it's been so long since I posted anything up on fanfiction (dot) net, let's hope I come back to lurking around here for quite a while.

**The 99th Floor**

* * *

"_Everything is clearer now, life is just a dream you know,  
It's never ending, I'm descending…_"

* * *

_Pre-chapter_: **Never Seen a Bluer Sky**

-o-o-

All in a second a shot was fired and she felt the stabbing pain of a bullet going through her stomach as she fell out of the window of the ninety-ninth floor.

After that, all she heard was a cry. A yell. A silence. After that, all she could feel was the suffocating wind as she plunged closer and closer to the ground below her. The pain in her stomach. The dryness of her eyes. After that, all she could see was a blur of a man with dark skin looking down at her from the broken window, mouth open wide as if he were screaming, large hand held out as if by some sort of desperation, he could reach out to her, grab her hand and save her. But she was already completely out of reach.

_Barret…?_

It hit Tifa then as something she'd done in the past. When everyone's story first began. Three years ago at one of the Reactors when Cloud held on for dear life, but plunged down into the darkness below, just as she was doing now. She held her hand out to him even though there was no chance he would be able to take it, crimson eyes full of un-spilt tears as she pleaded for him _not to die_, _not to die_, _not to die _and later was the happiest she'd ever been when she found out he'd been save by a flower bed.

And here she was. A small speckle to the other's who could see her in the sky as she plummeted to her inevitable death.

Funny, she always thought that these kind of things—that falling off of a building—would be much faster and not as slow-paced and numbing or suffocating. She tried to count the time since she had fallen, as her crimson eyes removed themselves from that window and that blur of a dark man. Instead, she looked ahead of her, at the blue sky and let out a lazy smirk.

_1… 2… _

She was aware that dark spots were invading her once clear vision.

… _3… _

Falling harder and heavier, she could make out the droplets of her blood floating above her carried by the wind and she wished she at least had the strength to lift her arm up and splatter that thick, red tear shaped droplet in her hand.

… _4.… _

She felt like such a hypocrite. She, who had told _him_ he must keep on living, was going to die. When he found out, she absently wondered what he would do, say, think…? And the kids, what about the kids…? Would they be okay?

… _5… 6…_

They'd all gotten so close, all four of them. For the last year, he'd always stood with them, loyal, committed, happy. Finally, Cloud Strife had been at the point of life where he could finally relax without falling apart. Without going to pieces and being blown away. And she was finally happy as well, happy that he was happy to be with them. Happy that he was happy to be with her. Happy that they were finally a proper family.

And what now…? All of that for nothing?

… _7.… 8.…_

She clenched her eyes shut. She'd give herself darkness before death gave it to her.

… _9…_

Tifa Lockhart hit the ground.

… _10…_

But that was all.

-o-o-

* * *

Yep, you're seeing right. A new story up from the former **Hybrid Rainbow**, also known as **cloti--hybrid** on live journal. It's going to be dark, and a slightly different take on DoC from AVALANCHE's point of view as opposed to Vincent's since most of us have played the game and know his side of the story. Plus, I always wanted to know in detail what the other's where up to so I made my own version up. Plus, I had this weird dream of the scene depicted in this chapter a while ago and it didn't want to leave me head, so I decided to put it in this story. But anyways, you can expect to see the Genesis, Vincent, Shalua Rui, Yuffie, and the Tsviets as well. 

**Next Chapter:** Cloud is caught in a little predicament of his own, before finding out what happened to Tifa and Barret.


End file.
